Infected Mosquito Bite Causes Tourist Face To Rot Away

Story ByJohn FengSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

These images show a tourist whose cheek was removed by medics after he scratched a mosquito bite, it became infected and it began to rot away.

Mr Hu, from the city of Shenyang, capital of north-eastern China’s Liaoning Province, was on holiday in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan last month when a mosquito bit him in his sleep.

But the otherwise innocent bite on his left cheek began to swell and eventually fester after he scratched it with apparently dirty hands.

Picture Credit: AsiaWire

Mr Hu recalled: “After I was bitten, I scratched it while I was sleeping, then it started swelling.

“It wasn’t serious at first, but on the third day there was a huge lump filled with pus.”

A local clinic in Haina was unable to treat Mr Hu, who elected to fly back to his native Shenyang.

Picture Credit: AsiaWire

He checked himself in to the General Hospital of Shenyang Military, where doctor Liu Zhongbo recognised his condition as a bacterial infection.

Doctor Liu, who is a burn and plastic surgery specialist at the facility, said: “Mr Hu was unable to open one of his eyes. His nose and his mouth were crooked, and his face had swelled about 2 inches.

“A closer inspection revealed that the infection had already reached the bone.

“The tissue on his face had become necrotic, and he was at risk of sepsis.”

Doctor Liu operated on Mr Hu and surgically removed his left cheek, replacing it with a skin graft from the back of his head.

Mr Hu has since been discharged from hospital.

He explained: “The sebaceous glands on the face can become swollen when bitten by a mosquito.

“And when the bite is scratched, it can become infected with bacteria from the hands.”

Doctor Liu urged members of the public to opt for creams instead of scratching a mosquito bite.

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